"Completing the Thirteen Colonies"

Calvinism Conceives Puritanism The awesome doctrine of predestination was a distinguishing feature of Calvinism. Calvinists were a peculiar lot, partly because no believers could be completely sure that they were of the "elect." The Puritans of Old England, even before 1620, were unhappy over the snail-like progress of the Protestant Reformation. The Puritan Reformers fell into two general groups: Non Conformists - sought to change the Church of England by boring from within. Though were devoted …

…The Middle Way in the Colonies In general, the soil was fertile and the expanse of land was broad, unlike rock-bestrewn New England. Rivers also played a vital role. Broad, languid streams-notably the Susquehanna, the Delaware, and the Hudson-tapped fur trade of the interior and beckoned adventuresome spirits into the back country. Yet the Middle Colonies, which in some ways were the most American part of America, could claim certain distinctions in their own right.